Kirthi Chekuri UPSC 2015 Topper AIR 14

About Kirthi Chekuri, Success story of UPSC topper, Tips for preparation for UPSC, UPSC 2016 Topper

Kirthi Chekuri UPSC 2015 Topper AIR 14

UPSC is all about hard work and dedication. It is not at all an easy exam to crack. You have to work hard for it, you have to give your time to your preparation. There are many candidates who are preparing for UPSC, but still, they are not able to clear the exam. So, don’t worry we will try to help you to stay motivated and tell you about the strategies toppers used to follow.

Kirthi Chekuri is another motivation to all the people who are preparing for UPSC. Every year UPSC conducts exam for various civil services. 2015 is the year which was lucky for Kirthi as she cleared the exam and become a national topper.

Kirthi cleared the exam only by doing her own preparation. She made everyone proud of her achievement. So, in this article, we will be going to tell you her journey and the strategies she used to follow during her preparation. She is a brilliant example of consistency and patience.

Family Background

She comes from a middle-class family. Her family always gave importance to her studies and career. Throughout her preparation, her family has been a huge support for her. She was born and brought up in Andhra Pradesh.

She got all Indian rank 14 after a lot of hard work. She made her dream reality in her third attempt. In one of her interviews, she also told: “Couldn’t imagine myself working in the four walls of a company and the vast scope of service civil services throw up actually drew me towards it”.

While most of the girls who are doing engineering thought to continue the same profession but Kirthi think differently. She told a media person “I could have easily got into the best of US universities like MIT gave my scores in IIT but somewhere my mind didn’t allow me. In fact, I did not even sit for placements in IIT and preferred Civil Services”.

She is a much-grounded child. She got inspired by a Marathi movie “Manjhi- The Mountain Man”. This movie inspired her in the way that noting have motivated her. It shows what human beings are capable of. She wants to use her profession for the betterment of the people and the country as well.

Strategy

In order to achieve success in your life, you have to make a strategy. The strategy is not only about doing correct things. The strategy is about making right choices, finding your weaknesses, finding your strengths, how you work on your weaknesses etc. strategy requires your thoughts and observation.

So, now we are going to discuss the various strategies or suggestions by Kirthi Chekuri. We are going to discuss the strategy behind her preparation.

Essay

She was a low performer in this field. She was not able to select as an IAS officer because of her low marks in an essay which effects the overall scoring. In an essay, she got 100 marks in CSE-2013 then 86 marks in CSE 2014 but in 2015 she worked on her weaknesses and got 125 marks and got selected for her dream job.

The strategy for essay preparation is:

You should clearly mention your stand in the essay after the introduction.

Your essay should have one specific and dominant idea for each paragraph and you should cover as many dimensions as possible.

First always understand your essay and try to frame an essay in simpler words rather than heavy words. If you will make your essay complicated then you will not be able to score well.

Choose your essay topic smartly, and you are comfortable with. Do not go for the essay which was mostly written or least written choose essay according to your preference.

Your essay should have justifications supporting your stand, also include some criticisms against your stand and end in a positive/hopeful way on how things can be bettered etc.

Prelims

We usually do not give much importance to prelims and try to neglect prelims thinking. Prelims exams do not count for final ranking but ignoring the prelims can prove to be a costly mistake for you. There are many toppers who cleared their prelims with a margin of 2-3 marks.

She cleared her prelims in 2013 with a margin of 4 marks. In 2014 the margin was way better. But the reason behind her low performance is the lack of practice. She knew only 45 questions accurately in Paper 1 and she attempted total 55 questions and guessed 10 questions. Fortunately, she cleared the prelims that year but when she talked to some of her seniors she comes to know that it was a very dangerous strategy.

In prelims, try to attempt the question which you are sure about. You should mark the questions in which you are 100% sure especially in your first round. In the second round, you should try to attempt those questions in which you can eliminate two options.

If you follow this strategy you will be able to clear your exam more easily and confidently.

Mains

In her first two attempts, her main marks were marginally above the cut-off and she was able to clear both the exams because of her interview. But when she attempts exam in 2015 she saw a drastic improvement in her performance.

The strategy for main exams is:

Always try to make a diagram in your answer. It will present your answer in an understanding manner.

Prepare from diagrams and maps also. Prepare diagrams for Geography from NCERT books.

Try to divide and write your answer in headings and subheadings. Include size heading for almost all the answers.

Draw flowcharts in your paper this will help you to score well. People who got good marks drew flowcharts for society questions.

Always write your answer on a specific keyword. Explain your answer with the help of those keywords.